When I became the Mayor of Indianapolis in January 2008, given my more than two decades of service as a U.S. Marine living and working around the world, I knew immediately that one of my goals for the city of Indianapolis was to expand the visibility and awareness of Indianapolis as a global city. Today, corporations can expand their business and individuals can choose to live anywhere in the world. Indianapolis is home to many newcomers from around the world. We are proud when they choose to call Indianapolis home. We need to make them feel welcomed and engage them as a part of our community. We also need to continue to increase the awareness of Indianapolis around the world. I am proud to say that in a few short years, Indianapolis’ international profile has risen considerably. We must prepare our city to be competitive globally not only for today, but more so for decades in the future. Today, we live in a global economy. This will only continue to magnify.
When I took office, I saw the opportunity to grow our international partnerships by expanding the number of our Sister City relationships. I felt it was vital that we develop partnerships in emerging markets such as Brazil, India, and China. I saw the value in these partnerships not only from the cultural and educational opportunities that would materialize, but I also saw benefits as more individuals would become engaged with citizen diplomacy changing their perspective and viewpoint of living in a global world. We wanted to approach these new relationships from a strategic perspective, and developed the following criteria as we worked to identify new Sister City partnerships:
- A metro population over 1 million inhabitants
- An international airport with ample international destinations served
- A prosperous city with economic vitality in multiple industries
- An education and cultural infrastructure able to foster exchanges with Indianapolis institutions
- No sister city relationships with U.S. cities that are within 250 miles of Indianapolis
We have been very successful in the strategic growth of our Sister City partnerships and the impact it has made in our local community. In fact, Indianapolis was just named by Sister Cities International as the best overall program in the nation (for cities over 500,000 in population).
Our focus was to grow the Sister Cities initiative in the areas of culture, education, civic partnership, and supporting business development. Our strategic approach to expand our Sister City program and raise Indy’s global profile was to augment and grow our already robust community partnerships. Indianapolis has a strong history of community partnership and collaboration, and we pride ourselves on accomplishing more through partnerships than just on our own. Through our Sister Cities program, we have developed partnerships with our public library, our symphony orchestra, and many cultural, education, and economic organizations. We have also created a signature event, the Sister Cities Fest that celebrates and raises awareness of the Indianapolis Sister Cities initiative. We market this event as a “Cultural Street Fair promoting a Global Indy”. Preparing our youth to live and work in a global economy is vital. Educationally, we have developed creative opportunities including Teacher Resource Packets, virtual classrooms and teacher exchanges to enhance global understanding with our youth in our K-12 classrooms and our local universities.
I have made a commitment to build strong ties to our Sister Cities by leading delegations consisting of Indianapolis’s business, education, and cultural leaders. By the end of September, I will have visited and led trade delegations to each of our Sister Cities at least once. During these visits, we have met with many corporations, trade associations, and chambers of commerce. We have built relationships with many foreign government officials who have influence on trade and investment decisions. I have been interviewed by many foreign media to promote Indianapolis as a great place to live and invest. It takes years of laying a foundation to build a perspective that our city has evolved into a global city, competitive on a world stage. I believe the steps we are taking to develop and expand our Sister City program is a vital initiative that will prepare our great city to be a strong and viable competitor in today’s growing global economy.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's November/December 2013 print edition.
Note: By the time of publication, Mayor Ballard, regrettably, was unable to visit Piran, Slovenia and Monza, Italy. He ended his European visit early to attend the funeral services of an Indianapolis police officer killed in the line of duty.
a global affairs media network
Indianapolis: A Vision for a Global City
November 18, 2013
When I became the Mayor of Indianapolis in January 2008, given my more than two decades of service as a U.S. Marine living and working around the world, I knew immediately that one of my goals for the city of Indianapolis was to expand the visibility and awareness of Indianapolis as a global city. Today, corporations can expand their business and individuals can choose to live anywhere in the world. Indianapolis is home to many newcomers from around the world. We are proud when they choose to call Indianapolis home. We need to make them feel welcomed and engage them as a part of our community. We also need to continue to increase the awareness of Indianapolis around the world. I am proud to say that in a few short years, Indianapolis’ international profile has risen considerably. We must prepare our city to be competitive globally not only for today, but more so for decades in the future. Today, we live in a global economy. This will only continue to magnify.
When I took office, I saw the opportunity to grow our international partnerships by expanding the number of our Sister City relationships. I felt it was vital that we develop partnerships in emerging markets such as Brazil, India, and China. I saw the value in these partnerships not only from the cultural and educational opportunities that would materialize, but I also saw benefits as more individuals would become engaged with citizen diplomacy changing their perspective and viewpoint of living in a global world. We wanted to approach these new relationships from a strategic perspective, and developed the following criteria as we worked to identify new Sister City partnerships:
- A metro population over 1 million inhabitants
- An international airport with ample international destinations served
- A prosperous city with economic vitality in multiple industries
- An education and cultural infrastructure able to foster exchanges with Indianapolis institutions
- No sister city relationships with U.S. cities that are within 250 miles of Indianapolis
We have been very successful in the strategic growth of our Sister City partnerships and the impact it has made in our local community. In fact, Indianapolis was just named by Sister Cities International as the best overall program in the nation (for cities over 500,000 in population).
Our focus was to grow the Sister Cities initiative in the areas of culture, education, civic partnership, and supporting business development. Our strategic approach to expand our Sister City program and raise Indy’s global profile was to augment and grow our already robust community partnerships. Indianapolis has a strong history of community partnership and collaboration, and we pride ourselves on accomplishing more through partnerships than just on our own. Through our Sister Cities program, we have developed partnerships with our public library, our symphony orchestra, and many cultural, education, and economic organizations. We have also created a signature event, the Sister Cities Fest that celebrates and raises awareness of the Indianapolis Sister Cities initiative. We market this event as a “Cultural Street Fair promoting a Global Indy”. Preparing our youth to live and work in a global economy is vital. Educationally, we have developed creative opportunities including Teacher Resource Packets, virtual classrooms and teacher exchanges to enhance global understanding with our youth in our K-12 classrooms and our local universities.
I have made a commitment to build strong ties to our Sister Cities by leading delegations consisting of Indianapolis’s business, education, and cultural leaders. By the end of September, I will have visited and led trade delegations to each of our Sister Cities at least once. During these visits, we have met with many corporations, trade associations, and chambers of commerce. We have built relationships with many foreign government officials who have influence on trade and investment decisions. I have been interviewed by many foreign media to promote Indianapolis as a great place to live and invest. It takes years of laying a foundation to build a perspective that our city has evolved into a global city, competitive on a world stage. I believe the steps we are taking to develop and expand our Sister City program is a vital initiative that will prepare our great city to be a strong and viable competitor in today’s growing global economy.
This article was originally published in the Diplomatic Courier's November/December 2013 print edition.
Note: By the time of publication, Mayor Ballard, regrettably, was unable to visit Piran, Slovenia and Monza, Italy. He ended his European visit early to attend the funeral services of an Indianapolis police officer killed in the line of duty.
